A US woman who shot and killed her husband and two adult children before taking her own life is thought to have committed the shocking crime as a result of being ostracised from the religion she was raised in.

Every time I tell a mate I’m doing a story on cryptocurrency, they invariably ask me the same two questions: should they invest their own hard-earned money, and which cryptocurrency will get them a Lamborghini/yacht/island quickest?

Vic government defends ambulance service

Victoria's health minister has brushed off the need for an inquiry into the state's ambulance service after four heart patients died waiting for emergency help.

Health Minister David Davis said Ambulance Victoria would investigate the deaths, which occurred within four days in the past week.

In each case, they experienced ambulance waits of between 18-22 minutes, outside the government's time guidelines.

Ambulance Victoria general manager of regional services Tony Walker has said the system is struggling under pressure and Labor has called on the government to act urgently, saying the system is in crisis.

Mr Davis defended the system, saying it is working, but there are cases where it can be better managed.

"We do have a challenge, there is no question about that," he told Fairfax Radio on Tuesday.

Related Articles

"But notwithstanding all of that, the government is committed to putting the resources in. We are committed to making changes where we can."

Mr Davis brushed off the need for an inquiry.

"We are putting more resources in. We're bringing the young paramedics through into the system. We're doing things like the referral service, which are not on their own, but are part of the challenge of a better system."

Mr Davis said extending a referral service to country Victoria would help take some of the load off paramedics attending the most urgent cases, but "no single thing" would fix the system.

He said the government increased funding to Ambulance Victoria by almost $100 million and boosted the number of paramedics by 465 in the past three years.